A performing market information system (MIS) is a key accompanying measure to market liberalization. The paper discusses the objectives and purposes of a MIS, its ideal characteristics and its concept and implementation, based on experiences with the cocoa and coffee MIS set up and presently...

The present study which started in 1999 is framed in the INCOYAM project. Marketing systems of yam are analyzed in three West- African countries: Cote d'Ivoire, Benin and Nigeria. Surveys have been carried out on urban (wholesales and retailers) and rural (collectors) traders. Cities and...

Agricultural production almost needs to double in the 21st century, putting tremendous pressure on agricultural resources. Most food production increases must come from more agricultural intensification in the South. This advances the need for a new green revolution: higher productivity and at...

The decision of whether to release transgenic crops in the EU is one subject to flexibility, uncertainty, and irreversibility. We analyse the case of herbicide tolerant sugar beet and reassess whether the 1998 de facto moratorium of the EU on transgenic crops for sugar beet was correct from a...

A socio-economic analysis of a sample of farms in Northern Côte d'Ivoire revisits two debates about the evolution of farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Taking into account the diversity of farming systems, the debates "Boserup vs. Malthus" and "competition vs. complementarity" between...

Public agricultural research has come under increasing pressure to redefine its strategic priorities to contribute to poverty alleviation goals. However, the issue of whether the poor benefit more from agricultural research that pursues efficiency or equity objectives remains unresolved, largely...

In this working paper we attempt to establish a general analytical framework for the calculation of the micro- and macroeconomic benefits and costs of biotechnology applications in EU agriculture. Since these innovative applications are typically protected by intellectual property rights,...

Some of the crucial assumptions of applied welfare economics do not hold any longer in the case of agricultural biotechnology innovations. We review some modifications to the conventional methodologies measuring the size and distribution of agricultural research benefits, which are critical for...